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Mid July to Mid August Round-Up

Jess GuthLeave a comment

Wow, nearly a month without writing about running. That usually means I have fallen off the running wagon. Not this time really. I’ve been ticking over nicely. So here’s a summary with links to the more detailed posts about recent running.IMG_1952 2

So our Australia running adventures continued in Brisbane after a few days of not running as we completely relaxed in the rainforest on the Atherton Tablelands. We walked a lot but no running.

In Brisbane we had several plods along the Southbank and into the Botanic Gardens including a lovely parkrun meet up with our friend Jenny.

After Brisbane we had another stint of not running as we joined an Uluru tour out of Alice Springs although we did manage a plod in Alice Springs itself and did some walking during the trip.

Our final stop in Australia was Sydney where we managed a bit of running including one stunning 6 mile loop of Manly North Head before my ankles went a bit niggly and I mostly left Kath to it.

39515394_265814414237648_2206717328685531136_nSince we’ve got back we’ve not done too badly at all. We have managed to keep to a pretty good routine for both running and cross-training to support our running. We are on track with our Dopey Training (oh yeah – we signed up for that little 4 day adventure again) and getting sort of ready for the Great North Run which is scarily soon.

I’ve even managed to speed session last week – the trusted fartlek I’ve done before and then we had a lovely little adventure on Ilkley Moor where we tried out a new path which made a lovely little 6 mile loop and is certainly one we’ll do again. I also thought it was about time I ran 45 minutes continuously rather than stopping for photos etc so I tried last week but didn’t quite make it on the hills. Yesterday though I ran it all.

So it’s all going pretty well and we’ll just keep plodding along.

Warning: running may lead to Yoga, Pilates, Gym….

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I don’t actually like the gym. We have been doing yoga at home – sometimes more and sometimes less consistently. However, its not really enough. I very occasionally popped into the gym at work but I often don’t get there because work stuff side tracks me or I want to get home…. So after much deliberations we joined the local council gym for a month in June to try out the classes and have another go at doing some useful cross training.

June was pretty good and we decided it was sensible to come back and get into a good exercise/cross training routine. So far we’re doing pretty well. One of the guys at the gym did us a short programme designed to support our running. It consists of some step ups with weights and then lots of stuff to strengthen core and glutes. I like it because it’s short and should work fine if done twice a week. In fact we have been doing this a little while now so it is probably time to go see him again and get a new one.

In addition we have done a fitness pilates class which I find quite hard but good and I enjoy it. Again the work on core strength helps and I think I am probably getting better even with only having done it twice since we’ve been back (and twice in June before we went). Last week we also tried a yoga class which I loved. The instructor was fabulous and very focused on form and technique coming round and putting us all in the right positions. I could most definitely feel that! We also tried a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) class in June which I sort of hated but loved having done. We are having another go on Thursday next week. So with 2 gym sessions, 1 pilates, 1 yoga and 1 HIIT class as well as the running we’re pretty busy getting fitter. We might not be able to do all of this every week and if I’m honest, the HIIT class might prove too much for me, but we’ll see how we go.

I lost 2 pounds in the first week back from Australia, I’m sticking to Sunday weigh in just to keep track and eating is focused on fuel and eating yummy things that are overall healthy without going over the top. I feel quite content with all of that at the moment and I am getting stronger. It feels different not going to the gym for the sake of going to the gym or to lose weight or tone up but to go to support my running. It feels like there’s a good reason and somehow that makes it more enjoyable.

The Dopey Training Plan

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Dopey gI mentioned in the last post that the runDisney races have their own magic and pixie dust, and they do. BUT and it’s a big but, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to train for them. You absolutely do. The Dopey Challenge is a serious challenge and the marathon is no joke. runDisney races are there to be enjoyed and if you are not properly trained then they are just not fun so why bother. So the runDinsey pixie dust isn’t that kind that somehow magics away the lack of training and gets you round happy and smiling. It’s the sort of pixie dust that makes the training worthwhile! We are broadly sticking to what worked last time and are using the Jeff Galloway programme on the runDisney website. There are a few modifications though – we are adding some hill and some speed work to the plan – doing that where the 2 weekly 45 minute runs are scheduled – probably roughly in alternate weeks. We also don’t really bother with the magic mile in any systematic way. As his entire plan is based on run/walk it it was a lovely confidence builder last time. This time I feel far fitter than I was when we started last time so I am continuing to run rather than run/walk the shorter runs and will also run/walk some of the walks listed

So here’s how it shapes up:

We are just at the end of week 7 now and today is actually meant to be a 3 mile run. We have changed that to 9 miles and it fits in better tomorrow – the 9 miles is part of the Great North Run prep. The rest of the training plan then looks like this

So far I feel quite positive about this. I like the 2 weekly 45 minute runs and the numbers on the long runs are not yet scaring me. I still have fond memories of the Toronto Half Marathon in the memory bank so hope that they can carry me through the next few training runs and the Great North Run after which we will have to submit our proof of time for Dopey corral placement. All the strength work we’ve been doing should help too!

Happy Training!

Registered for Dopey Challenge Round 2

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So those of you who have been following this journey for a little while (or have looked in the archives) will remember the complete madness that is the Dopey Challenge. The Dopey is a 4 day event at the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend which takes place annually at the Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida. Here’s the deal:

Wednesday: Survive Expo and all the crazy people who buy EVERYTHINGToy story

Thursday: Run 5km

Friday: Run 10km

Saturday: Run Half Marathon

Sunday: Run Marathon

It sounds insane because it is a little bit insane. It is also an amazing running adventure and experience. It is a great reminder that even road running does not have be taken that seriously (although some mad people do take this extremely seriously) and that you can seriously challenge yourself without taking the fun out of things. Running at Disney isn’t like running everywhere else. It has its own magic and dose of pixie dust and I can’t imagine having run my first marathon anywhere else.

Keep calm run disneyI’m not sure what possessed me to want to have another go. Maybe I have unfinished business. It’s not that I particularly feel the need to do it faster than last time but last time I really enjoyed the first three races and then marathon day was just a bit miserable because it was so humid and because a marathon really is just a bloody long way and I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I don’t need to do it faster, I just need to do the marathon better. I need to focus more on taking it in and enjoying the experience – yes even ESPN Wild World of Sports can, so Kath tells me, be quite fun. I want to have another go to focus on the experience and not on just getting to the end. Although I have to say I only really remember the good bits – I think that’s how marathons work in your brain, you forget. I know I was miserable on marathon day but that’s not how I now remember it.

We booked the trip ages ago and were anxiously waiting for registration to open. Of course it opened while we were in Australia so we worked out the time difference and set our alarm for 2am and sat in bed with the iPad to register. It didn’t work for the first attempt as the screen froze before we entered our credit card details. We had to crash out and start again. I sort of knew Dopey wasn’t likely to sell out immediately but you just never know so we persevered and got lucky; second attempt and we got our Dopey registration and the race retreat booked and confirmed. We’re doing it. What have we done. I’m not sure whether knowing what I have let myself in for is better or worse. Either way, it’s a lot of miles over 4 days!

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Nothing quite like home

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Well after a month of adventures in Australia with a little bit of running thrown in, it was nice to be home. The jet lag  wasn’t too bad in terms of sleeping patterns but a bit of a pain in terms of being generally tired and really hungry at random times. We arrived back on Saturday 4th August and on Sunday morning woke up early. We decided to run. My ankles still felt a bit tired but any real soreness had gone. Generally I just felt tight from having been curled up on planes for too much of the previous 48 hours or so.

This is nearly two weeks ago now so my memory is a bit fuzzy – I think we set off separately. We were aiming for the 6 miles listed on the Dopey Plan and wanted to have a nosey at the new canal towpath between Riddlesden and Silsden too. It was quite hard going and my feet kept going numb like they do when my calves are too tight so I walked rather more than I really wanted to but it was good to get out and the familiarity of the landscape made me smile. It was lovely to see and hear birds that I recognised and to see how things had changed over the month we’d been gone. 6.2 miles in the bank.

The second run at home was my attempt to get into good habits and not keep putting off speed sessions. We did the runners world fartlek we’ve done before and I didn’t do too badly except that I obviously pushed too hard on the 1 minute run and was a little bit sick, recovered and then did the two 30 second intervals at a steady pace. Speed work not avoided! Well done me. Next I wanted to do a 45 minute continuous run because while I haven’t been doing run/walk, I have been running with photo stops. I haven’t run continuously for ages. So I set off and felt pretty good for the first two miles or so. The canal towpath was busy though with lots of people coming towards me and I didn’t fancy turning round and having to go past all these people again so I changed my mind last minute and crossed the canal – I wasn’t mentally ready for the hill which threw me and I had to stop and walk. At the top I set off again and past a dog walker whose dog decided it would come with me instead. I had to stop and wait for him to retrieve it. Unfortunately this happened at the bottom of the next slope and I didn’t get going again until I’d walked to the top. Still it ended up being a pretty solid 45 minutes.

Then came the weekend long run last weekend – 7 miles was the plan. We went up towards Ilkley Moor and I was pretty pleased with how I managed to keep pushing from landmark to landmark. One day I might be able to run it all but for now that’ll do nicely. At the top we decided to turn left rather than right towards the trig point and stanza stones. It’s often really wet and boggy left so we’d never run it before. At the end of that track we went left again and explored a new (well no, new to us) path/track/trail to take us back down towards home. At some point we must have got it just slightly wrong because we ended up on the other side of the wall to where the clear footpath was but it was all fine. Given the terrain and that we weren’t quite sure where we were going we ended up walking a fair bit and the loop was 6 mile rather than the 7 but it was a fun little adventure.

This week I have done 2 45 minute Dopey Training runs  – one nice little plod along the canal with Kath which was uneventful and then the re-run of the route I did last week where I had to walk the slopes. This time I wanted to run it all and had asked Kath to help me. I really need to stop avoiding hills or deciding to walk the ones that are perfectly runnable! So we set off and I felt pretty good. The first mile was just under 12 minutes and I wondered whether I should slow down a bit to make sure I had enough in the tank but I felt good so just kept moving by feel rather than worrying about pace. Coming up the the bridge we were crossing and the hill that had thrown me last time I started repeating in my head: I feel good, I feel strong…. over and over. The hill came and went and I realised that my breathing and heart rate were recovering. I did actually feel good and strong. I kept the mantra going and the slope where I had to wait last week for the dog to be retrieved didn’t seem bad at all. Then there was the final little hill. I had a moment of doubt but then I thought I had less than 5 minutes to go so just needed to hang on. The hill somehow came and went and I kept running at the top. My legs didn’t give up and then my breathing recovered and I felt my heart rate settle again. I pushed the pace to the end of the road and stopped having run just over 45 minutes at 12.02 minutes per mile pace. Thrilled with that.

Next is the weekend 9 miler. I’ll be doing this run/walk with the aim of keeping the runs relatively fast, the walks positive and my mind off negative notions of things it might suddenly decide are impossible. Nothing is impossible. Which is a good thing because the Great North Run is looming.

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